Learner driver busted at 253km/h while on drugs facing jail time
South Australian prosecutors have called for a 20-year-old learner driver – who was caught driving a Holden Commodore V8 ute at 253km/h in a 110km/h zone – to face jail time.
A South Australian learner driver who was caught driving a Holden Commodore SS ute at 143km/h above the posted speed limit is facing severe penalties – and the possibility of jail time – after pleading guilty to multiple offences in court earlier this week.
On 30 January 2023, Barossa Highway Patrol officers on South Australia’s North-South Motorway detected a 20-year-old learner driver – later identified as Tarelle Lewis Charles Power-Williams – driving at 253km/h in a 110km/h zone.
The Highway Patrol officers were able to catch up to Mr Power-Williams when the unregistered V8-powered Holden Commodore ute’s gearbox failed shortly after it was detected at the excessive speed.
While the detected speed was 143km/h above the posted limit, learner permit holders in South Australia are limited to 100km/h – resulting in the 20-year-old breaking his speed limit by 153km/h.
Following a roadside drug test, Mr Power-Williams returned a positive reading, while his passenger was found to be without a full licence – a requirement for supervisors of learner drivers in all Australian jurisdictions.
ABC News reports Mr Power-Williams faced Adelaide’s Magistrates Court earlier this week, where the 20-year-old pled guilty to multiple offences relating to the incident – including police pursuit, driving unregistered and breaching bail.
The learner driver also pled guilty to unrelated charges from an earlier incident in November 2021, when he reportedly drove a stolen car at up to 80km/h in a 50km/h residential zone on the wrong side of the road “for at least 18 minutes”.
According to ABC News, South Australian Police Prosecutor Lorne Matthews called for the court to impose a term of imprisonment on Mr Power-Williams, in addition to a minimum five-year licence suspension for the driving offender.
While Mr Power-Williams told police at the time of the January 2023 incident that he was “driving like a dickhead”, Magistrate Benjamin Sale was quoted as saying the 20-year-old was “probably the most dangerous person in the state” when he was behind the wheel.
“On the occasions that he was driving in the fashion that I have heard, he was probably the most dangerous person in the state for those minutes that he was driving,” Magistrate Sale told the Adelaide Magistrates Court, as reported by ABC News.
“This is not just being, as he’s described it ‘a dickhead’, but this seems to be offending that often only ends up in one way if he keeps doing it that he will kill himself or he will kill somebody else.”
According to ABC News, Mr Power-Williams will be sentenced by the Adelaide Magistrates Court next week.
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